Introduction
I am so grateful for the wonderful Elvis and ETA fans I have met over past three years at shows and competitions. I wish to thank them all for liking, sharing and following what I post on SIDEBURNS Magazine. They are definitely the ‘Ultimate Fans’.
For this introduction, I would like to focus on one fan in particular, Audrey Manasterski. Audrey was one of the first ETA fans I met, just days in fact, before I launched SIDEBURNS Magazine.
ETA Matt Cage with Audrey Manasterski. Photo Credit: Audrey Manasterski.
On Friday, September 8th, 2017, I arrived very early at ETA Matt Cage’s show at Flamboro Downs. The seating area was empty, and neither Matt, nor his sound man for the evening, ETA Brent Freeman, had arrived. I was in the process of deciding where I should sit when Audrey and her husband, Doug, walked in. We chatted briefly, and Audrey asked if I wanted to join them at their table. It was Audrey’s first time at Flamboro, and she specifically came to see Matt. Audrey shared her memory with me about the first time she met Matt:
I met Matt, of all places, at the Heartbreak Hotel in Memphis at the Jungle Room Bar. He was there with his girlfriend. I looked over at him and thought, “Wow, this guy is gorgeous!” He was dressed as Elvis, of course. I smiled and said, “On you that looks good.” He smiled. They came over and spoke with me. That’s when I found out he was Canadian. I have followed him ever since…that was 2007, I think.
In her handbag, Audrey had a plastic bag full of photos taken of her with people well known in the Elvis/ETA world.
As Audrey and I talked, it became apparent that I did not know many people in the ETA world—just a few ETAs: Matt, Brent, Gordon, and Steve; so, Audrey, wanting to help, took out a pen and paper and wrote down some names. With a list of contacts, a nod from Brent Freeman, and much help from my three daughters, SIDEBURNS: The Ultimate ETA Fan Magazine, was launched two days later on Sunday, September 10th, 2017
Audrey continues to be very supportive in her comments in response to my posts; and she still dazzles me with her interesting stories and photos. Most recently, Audrey shared a story about today’s featured ETA, Alan Meyer.
This is the very first Elvis Impersonator I ever saw, before Elvis died. His name was Alan Meyer. He was awesome! We saw him on August 10th, 1974, at a club in downtown Toronto. We took my mom there for her birthday. Mom bought me his 45 rpm record because it was a special occasion. She marked the date on it: “To Audrey with love from Mommy, August 10, 1974. Mom liked to date everything. Alan’s fiancée at the time, I think, Dana, sat beside us. She told Alan that it was my mom’s birthday, so he sang a song to her. I don’t remember the name of the song. It was my first venture seeing an Elvis Impersonator, though he called it his ‘Tribute to Elvis’. I think he even met Elvis. I don’t have any photos of Mom and Alan. I guess we didn’t think to bring a camera that night; but here is a photo of the record. BTW it’s made in Canada. Alan died in April, 2015. I couldn’t find out any more.
Thank you, Audrey, for sharing your stories and photos with all of us.
What follows are two articles written about the life and performances of ETA Alan Meyer. The first article was written by Jimmy King in 1974 for the Winnipeg Free Press; and the second is an edited article is by Alan Hanson, who has an interesting blog on Elvis and Elvis related topics. I found it very interesting how Winnipeg, Canada, played an important part in Alan Meyer’s success.
Night Beat
By Jimmy King, Winnipeg Free Press, Saturday, February 16th, 1974
He looks like Elvis. He sings like Elvis. He dresses like Elvis, and on stage he moves like Elvis. I am referring to the young man name Alan who has been playing to packed houses at the Towers since he opened there two weeks with his Tribute to Elvis show. Alan has broken all attendance records at the Kennedy street supper club since it re-opened over a year ago.
One has to marvel at the Presley charisma when watching the crowd react to the handsome young imitator. The strongest reactionaries are the female Presley fans. They reach for Alan’s scarves, run up to the stage to the stage to snap his picture, or leave their seats to mop his brow with their own kerchiefs which they then squeeze into their bosom. It’s as if he were the real thing.
Alan, who evidently goes by his first name only, has a fine four-piece backup group with him, each of whom he introduces by first name only. His repertoire is, of course, strictly Presley and he closes tonight.
In Memory of Alan Meyer:
The First Great Elvis Tribute Artist
By Alan Hanson
Alan Meyer, a pioneer in the field of Elvis tribute artists, passed away on April 4, 2015. His show, “Alan: A Tribute to Elvis,” drew large crowds and glowing reviews even when Elvis was still alive. I saw Alan’s show in Las Vegas just a few days after Elvis died in August 1977. I remember it vividly both for Alan’s musicianship and for his respectful treatment of Elvis’s memory at that sensitive time.
In March 2010, I paid tribute to Alan’s career in my weekly entry on Elvis History Blog. Over a year later, Alan contacted me. “Pretty nice comments,” he noted. He then explained that he was working on his autobiography, which he had titled, The Illusionary Elvis. “It begins when I was, as you say, ‘at the top of my game’, but still six months before Elvis died.” Coincidentally, the first professionally booked performance of his Elvis tribute show was at the Spokane House hotel in my hometown.
That booking led to his first national tour. “First from Spokane to Winnipeg, where the Town and Country Cabaret made me a national celebrity in Canada,” he recalled, “and how they were waiting for me to arrive in Calgary because of what they heard about Winnipeg.” He went on to explain how his Elvis tribute show won the approval of audiences and critics alike:
Throughout the book I refer to an old scrapbook containing maybe 1,000 articles from newspapers and magazines that established my credibility and kept my story honest. In the Las Vegas Sun, for example, Forest Duke and Joe Delany, who reviewed the real Elvis, wrote that I was a ‘screaming success’ in their columns. Just that they were reviewing me was a little more than unusual. Possibly that Dick Clark’s name was on the marquee had a lot to do with that.
My story has some very high points, like playing on the same stages with Jerry Lee; and some funny lows, such as when I found myself on Bourbon Street prepared for another terrific gig, only to find out the place was a dive that didn’t pay me. My manager had the ability to pull tricks out of his hat to rescue me from dire straits.
Alan closed that first email message by explaining briefly why he ended his Elvis tribute show:
As you know, I was playing in the main showroom of the Tropicana when Elvis died, and my career had peaked while he was alive. Being the so-called king of the impersonators is why I quit and never looked back. That is until now. So, I’m writing about it. That I never once impersonated Elvis makes my story unique.
We continued to keep in touch for some time via email. In one message, he recalled some complimentary reviews and compared his own singing voice to that of Elvis:
Paul Raugust of the Winnipeg Press wrote, “Alan is to Elvis as a Bentley is to a Rolls.” That was probably my most flattering review, with the exception of when Variety’s staff writer Nitty May said, “Only one thing shakes the illusion: when Alan occasionally lets go of his voice, it has more magic than Presley’s, even at his youthful best.” I, of course, disagreed. Maybe I sang ‘Teddy Bear’ in 1975 more like Elvis did on his original recording than Elvis did in 1975, but I barely approached the magic of Elvis’s voice on his original recording.
Although Alan led the way in the Elvis Tribute Artist (ETA) movement, he was disappointed with many such performers today:
To me, the dyed-in-the-wool Elvis fans have, unfortunately, truly died,” he explained. “Not all, mind you, but most. There is the new breed of Elvis fans out there that support impersonators. I call them ‘Elvis impersonator fans.’ To Elvis, these impersonators are like ‘bleached flour to whole grain.’ The dyed-in-the-wool Elvis fans like myself missed the way he sang in his early years through the mid-60s, and that’s what I tried to restore, while still pointing out the improvement in his vocal quality that he demonstrated on songs like “Hurt”.
In a follow-up email, Alan explained further:
Still, who could top “Hurt” and many other powerhouses Elvis did even on his final tour? I just found it so disheartening that his fans were so quick to turn to impersonators after he died. Kind of like they all decided it was OK then.
When I asked Alan if I could read some of his autobiography, he emailed me a draft of the first chapter. It was in need of some editing, but the content was very interesting. But since our email communication ended shortly after that, I never knew if Alan finished writing his story.
My blog about Alan has been archived on Elvis History Blog since it first appeared five years ago. A few weeks ago, I received the following message from a special reader who came across the article:
Mr. Hanson, I am Alan Meyer's wife. Today is the first time I've seen your review of his ‘Tribute to Elvis’ performances. I must say I was very pleased. It is the best and most accurate review I have seen. It was always Alan's aim to create the feeling of seeing an Elvis performance—not trying to be Elvis. You may not know yet, but Alan passed on on April 4, 2015. I can not tell you what reading your review has meant to me during this very sad time in my life. I thank you so very much. I am sure it was no accident that I found this page. - Bren
Just a few days ago, I received another message about Alan. It came from Rick Marino, who was one of Alan’s fellow pioneers in the Elvis Tribute Artist movement. Rick’s comments are an appropriate way to conclude this remembrance of Alan Meyer.
Just read your piece on Alan Meyer. He was a friend of mine for many years. We began our careers about the same time, him in ’71, me in ’73. He was indeed a trailblazer and the first to make the big money doing Elvis shows. I wrote a couple of reviews for Alan in the early 2000s, which he appreciated, with me being the author of the book ‘Be Elvis’! I was in Vegas two weeks ago talking about Alan, when I was told of his passing. I could not believe it. I knew of his health issues but still was very unsettled by the news. We started something together, and today it is crazy how it has grown to what it is. Alan could sound so much like Elvis that it was incredible. I still have his LP from 1974-5. Peace be with you Alan. I will miss you.
Videos
Journalist Jimmy King
Jimmy King wrote an entertainment column for the Winnipeg Free Press for over 13 years and, from the mid-1960s to mid-1970s, was musical director for the CKY Talent Show. A member of the Winnipeg Press Club, he participated for 25 years in its “Beer and Skits” and was Club President from 1984 to 1985. He also served as President of the St. James Assiniboia Museum. Jimmy King died of cancer at Winnipeg on 10 July 1987. Pictured in the photo below (r) Jimmy’s son, Randall, who returned to his hometown of Winnipeg, follows in his father’s footsteps and has covered the entertainment beat in one capacity or another since 1990.
Writer Alan Hanson
Alan Hanson |© May 2015
In addition to his Elvis History blog, Alan Hanson has written two published books on Elvis Presley: “Elvis ‘57: The Final Fifties Tours” and “Elvis: The Movies”. A former military serviceman, and a teacher for 30 years at North Central High School, Alan resides with his wife, Christine, in Spokane, Washington.
http://www.elvis-history-blog.com/
Magician and ETA Darrin Race
Magician and ETA, Darrin Race. Photo Credit: Darrin Race per FB.
Darrin Race, the creator/owner of the Alan Meyer Friend and Fan page, saw Alan perform live at the Tropicana three days after Elvis died. Alan was Darrin’s inspiration and mentor for him doing an Elvis tribute. Darrin, who is also a professional magician, was friends with Alan, and his wife, Bren, for many years. Darrin is now working with Bren on archiving many of Alan's, photos, news clippings, audio and video, with a future goal of opening a venue called the "Darrin Race Magic and Movie Experience", which will include a theater, museum, and retail gift /magic shop, and a section on Elvis and Alan in the museum. He is also working on a box set of Alan’s work.
Edits by Carolyn MacArthur, Editor, SIDEBURNS Magazine. I have been in contact with Darrin Race, and hope to have an article on Darrin in the coming weeks. Photos used in this post are from “ALAN The Original Tribute to Elvis Friends and Fans Tribute Page. For more information, please click on https://www.facebook.com/groups/1540968499528099